WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.399 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:02.560 --> 00:00:07.040 We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:08.640 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:19.199 --> 00:00:23.359 So have you ever done this where you make plans? 00:00:23.519 --> 00:00:30.879 Maybe it's a month out, you're gonna have dinner with friends, you're going to a birthday party, maybe it's a small group, maybe it's an event you're going to, and you're kind of excited. 00:00:30.960 --> 00:00:35.520 You put it on your calendar, you're looking forward to it, and then it starts to get close to time. 00:00:35.679 --> 00:00:41.920 So maybe it's like a few days before, maybe a couple days before, and then you start thinking logistically about what will this require of me. 00:00:42.159 --> 00:00:45.520 Then you wake up and you go, okay, now I have to, what am I gonna wear? 00:00:45.679 --> 00:00:47.840 I figure out what to wear, I've got to do hair and makeup. 00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:50.960 Okay, so the guys, you guys have this really easy, you don't have that part. 00:00:51.119 --> 00:00:53.280 You're thinking about, okay, how far is this place? 00:00:53.439 --> 00:00:55.439 You look it up, how long is it gonna take? 00:00:55.600 --> 00:00:57.600 Do I need to get gas in my car beforehand? 00:00:57.759 --> 00:00:59.439 How much money will I need to spend? 00:00:59.600 --> 00:01:06.000 And then you just kind of start thinking of all these things, and then suddenly you're like, hmm, I think I have a tickle in my throat. 00:01:06.239 --> 00:01:07.840 Maybe I'm too sick to go. 00:01:08.719 --> 00:01:11.040 Or you're like, oh, I'm really slammed at work. 00:01:11.200 --> 00:01:15.200 I have too much to do, I have a paper to write, I just I can't go. 00:01:15.359 --> 00:01:27.439 Um, or you're just kind of like trying to find excuses to opt out of something that you had planned and looked forward to, but when it gets to time, you start to get um overwhelmed by it, and it feels exhausting. 00:01:27.599 --> 00:01:34.560 And so I realized that I don't have FOMO, the fear of missing out, I have Jomo, the joy of missing out. 00:01:35.359 --> 00:01:40.079 And I bet some of you also experience JOMO, at least some of the time. 00:01:40.400 --> 00:01:47.519 And I think, you know, a recent Atlantic Monthly article declared that we are currently in an antisocial century. 00:01:47.760 --> 00:01:56.480 We spend more time alone, eating, watching, working, exercising, whatever it is we do, we do it more alone than ever in history before. 00:01:56.560 --> 00:02:00.640 And of course, we're on our devices more than ever before. 00:02:00.799 --> 00:02:05.359 And it is not good for us as individuals, and it's not good for us as a society. 00:02:05.680 --> 00:02:10.240 And like some of you, I also work from home and I coach clients on Zoom. 00:02:10.400 --> 00:02:18.000 So I can go days without seeing another person face to face, other than my husband and maybe the Trader Joe cashier. 00:02:18.159 --> 00:02:20.560 I see him on a regular basis every few days. 00:02:20.800 --> 00:02:23.520 But it's so easy to isolate ourselves. 00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:30.319 But the irony is that every time I've made that effort to connect with people, I've just been so glad afterwards. 00:02:30.479 --> 00:02:37.599 And I've and know it's good for me to engage with other people and to get out and to talk and let people into my life. 00:02:37.759 --> 00:02:43.120 And yet, I still have to talk myself into it sometimes, even when I feel lonely. 00:02:43.280 --> 00:02:44.400 So, how about you? 00:02:44.639 --> 00:02:47.520 What do you do when you feel that ache of loneliness? 00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:56.400 Do you are you tempted to hide out at home in your jammies watching Netflix, or do you feel that need to reach out and connect with someone else? 00:02:56.800 --> 00:03:08.719 A recent 2024 Pew survey on loneliness in American adults found that the those, the number of people experiencing isolation has been consistently rising every year across all generations. 00:03:08.879 --> 00:03:11.919 So it's up and to the right, but not in a positive way. 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:18.000 Um and of course, the young adults, as we've been hearing, have been hit the hardest, 18 to 29-year-olds. 00:03:18.319 --> 00:03:23.759 With 20% report that they experience loneliness every single day. 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:27.199 And of course, we all experience loneliness from time to time. 00:03:27.280 --> 00:03:30.319 That is part of the human condition, and that is normal. 00:03:30.479 --> 00:03:41.360 Um, but when we're isolated for a long time, the loneliness can start seeping into our souls, and it starts to shape how we see ourselves and how we see the world in an inaccurate way. 00:03:41.599 --> 00:03:46.000 We may start to see ourselves as people who don't need other people, which we know is not true. 00:03:46.240 --> 00:03:51.840 Or we can start to retreat in isolation and to protect ourselves from vulnerability, from hurt. 00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:53.439 It's kind of this vicious cycle. 00:03:53.680 --> 00:04:01.680 The more you don't connect with people, the more you're kind of reluctant and afraid to connect with people, which then causes you to connect people less. 00:04:01.759 --> 00:04:02.879 So as you see how it goes. 00:04:03.039 --> 00:04:04.560 The flip is also true. 00:04:04.719 --> 00:04:14.879 The more you do connect and stretch yourself and let people in and are in their lives, the more you see the joy of that, and then it kind of feeds into a more virtuous cycle. 00:04:15.120 --> 00:04:18.000 So think about how many close friends you have. 00:04:18.240 --> 00:04:23.360 I'm talking like not your um social media friends necessarily, but your 9-1-1 friends. 00:04:23.519 --> 00:04:28.480 These are friends you can call in an emergency in the middle of the night, and they'll come get you, they'll come help you. 00:04:28.720 --> 00:04:33.120 If you have more than 10 of those kinds of friends, raise your hand. 00:04:33.600 --> 00:04:33.920 10. 00:04:34.319 --> 00:04:34.639 Okay. 00:04:35.040 --> 00:04:36.560 So we have a few here. 00:04:36.720 --> 00:04:44.160 Um, you are part of the 13% of Americans, only 13%, that say they have 10 or more close friends. 00:04:44.879 --> 00:04:51.839 And that 13% is the exact same percentage that said that they have zero close friends. 00:04:52.319 --> 00:04:58.000 Almost half, 49% of Americans now report that they have three or fewer close friends. 00:04:58.160 --> 00:05:02.160 And these this survey was done in 2021 with numbers before COVID. 00:05:02.319 --> 00:05:07.360 As you can imagine, the numbers are way higher today post-COVID. 00:05:07.680 --> 00:05:14.240 We know Jesus had at least 12 close friends, and as this meme points out, this would be a modern-day miracle. 00:05:14.480 --> 00:05:20.000 It says, nobody talks about Jesus' miracle of having 12 close friends in his 30s as a single man. 00:05:22.399 --> 00:05:32.879 So, as a former small groups pastor, I used to talk and train our small group leaders and groups about developing life on life, refrigerator rights, kinds of friendships. 00:05:33.040 --> 00:05:43.600 And think about the people in your life who you are okay if they run walk into your house, go into your kitchen, open your fridge, and start grabbing stuff and start eating without asking permission. 00:05:43.839 --> 00:05:47.519 How many people in your life would you feel comfortable having doing that? 00:05:47.759 --> 00:05:56.319 Or on the flip, how many people would you feel comfortable going to their house, going to their kitchen and grabbing stuff out of their fridge without asking? 00:05:56.560 --> 00:06:05.199 And to me, refrigerator rights is a shortcut way of looking at do you have those kinds of close friends where you're that level of comfort and trust? 00:06:05.360 --> 00:06:14.319 Um, the problem is that in 2025, outside of family members, most of us have few, if any, refrigerator rights friends. 00:06:14.639 --> 00:06:16.879 But church, it does not have to be this way. 00:06:17.040 --> 00:06:25.439 Here's the beautiful truth what people need the most in our society right now, we as the church are most qualified to offer. 00:06:25.680 --> 00:06:33.680 As part of our collective DNA, the community of Christ, this church has a mission to connect people to God and to one another. 00:06:34.079 --> 00:06:36.480 It's like two beams that make up the cross. 00:06:36.639 --> 00:06:42.639 We need that vertical relationship with God, and that's what you guys have been talking about the last two weeks of this Unalone series. 00:06:42.800 --> 00:06:46.639 And then we also need that horizontal relationship with each other. 00:06:46.879 --> 00:06:53.360 And the truth is that the vertical relationship is hampered unless you have that horizontal relationship with Jesus. 00:06:53.519 --> 00:06:57.040 We cannot grow with Jesus without each other. 00:06:57.279 --> 00:07:02.720 So last month when I was here, we focused on Genesis 1 and how God made human beings, male and female. 00:07:02.879 --> 00:07:04.879 He made them in his image and likeness. 00:07:05.040 --> 00:07:11.120 And then we talked about how they together were part of the first human family given the role of stewardship over creation. 00:07:11.360 --> 00:07:20.800 So God is in a triune relationship, meaning three and one, Father, Son, the Holy Spirit are in perfect unity, interrelated in this relationship together. 00:07:20.959 --> 00:07:25.439 So of course, when God created human beings, he also put that into our DNA. 00:07:25.600 --> 00:07:32.079 From the very beginning, God designed us for deep connection with the Lord and with one another. 00:07:32.319 --> 00:07:35.439 And in Genesis 1, God called all the creation good. 00:07:35.600 --> 00:07:38.079 Remember, every day He said it was good, it was good, right? 00:07:38.160 --> 00:07:39.199 There's six times. 00:07:39.360 --> 00:07:42.560 And then after he made humans, he said it was very good. 00:07:42.720 --> 00:07:48.000 Um today we're unpacking the only thing in the garden that God said was not good. 00:07:48.240 --> 00:07:51.120 And so turn your into your Bibles to Genesis 2. 00:07:51.199 --> 00:07:57.120 We're gonna read from verse 18 to 25, and I'm reading all the scripture today from the New Living Translation. 00:07:57.439 --> 00:08:01.199 Then the Lord God said, It is not good for man to be alone. 00:08:01.360 --> 00:08:04.000 I will make a helper who is just right for him. 00:08:04.160 --> 00:08:08.639 So the Lord God formed from the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. 00:08:08.800 --> 00:08:13.199 He brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and the man chose a name for each one. 00:08:13.439 --> 00:08:17.759 He gave names to all the livestock, all the birds in the sky, and all the wild animals. 00:08:17.920 --> 00:08:21.199 But still, there was no helper just right for him. 00:08:21.439 --> 00:08:25.040 So the Lord God caused the man to fall asleep into a deep sleep. 00:08:25.199 --> 00:08:30.160 While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man's ribs and closed up the opening. 00:08:30.319 --> 00:08:34.320 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib and he brought her to the man. 00:08:34.559 --> 00:08:39.039 At last the man exclaimed, This one is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. 00:08:39.200 --> 00:08:41.840 She will be called woman because she was taken from man. 00:08:42.080 --> 00:08:47.840 This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. 00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:51.679 Now the man and his wife were both naked but felt no shame. 00:08:52.320 --> 00:08:57.519 So the first not good in all creation is that there is no woman on the scene. 00:08:57.759 --> 00:08:59.919 Which I love that for us. 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:06.320 But this would have been just as true if Eve had been alone with that in the garden without Adam. 00:09:06.480 --> 00:09:15.440 Before sin entered the world, before there was brokenness and just the big mess and the fallness of it all, God declared that it is not good for humans to be alone. 00:09:15.600 --> 00:09:20.720 So that loneliness, that ache we feel when we're disconnected, it's not a weakness. 00:09:20.879 --> 00:09:22.559 It's actually like a warning light. 00:09:22.720 --> 00:09:34.639 Kind of what you have on your dashboard in your car when the door is left open, or you need engine oil change, that light is this warning reminding us to propel us towards connection. 00:09:34.879 --> 00:09:41.759 So scientific research consistently supports God's pronouncement of aloneness is not good for us or for our society. 00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:49.120 Study after study shows that loneliness is just terrible for our physical, mental, emotional, and I would add, spiritual well-being. 00:09:49.279 --> 00:09:56.480 Former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy identified loneliness as America's biggest health crisis, and he prescribed relational connection. 00:09:56.559 --> 00:10:04.240 And he said, we are good medicine for each other, which I think is a physician's way of saying what God already said in Genesis 2.18. 00:10:04.559 --> 00:10:06.000 It's not good for us to be alone. 00:10:06.159 --> 00:10:15.039 So then God fashions a solution to this problem and he creates this companion who is just right, well suited, so that they can carry out God's plan together. 00:10:15.279 --> 00:10:24.559 And this passage is often used in marriage ceremonies and weddings and sermons about marriage, but it is about so much more than the marital relationship. 00:10:24.799 --> 00:10:34.000 God made each person his image to reflect his character, so his relational connectedness with one another in the family of God. 00:10:34.320 --> 00:10:41.919 So this not good reveals that one human being by themselves cannot be what God has called all of us to become together. 00:10:42.080 --> 00:10:42.639 So Dr. 00:10:42.720 --> 00:10:55.279 Tim Mackey from the Bible Project, he explains it this way: Though the example of marriage in Genesis 1 and 2, we come face to face with a calling that God has placed upon all humans to pursue oneness with others. 00:10:55.519 --> 00:10:58.320 Ultimately, God means for humanity to be a family. 00:10:58.559 --> 00:11:01.360 Marriage is not the only way we find ourselves in a family. 00:11:01.600 --> 00:11:07.120 This is just how the narrator of Genesis points out an important motif that carries throughout the whole story of the Bible. 00:11:07.279 --> 00:11:22.960 So marriage creates small family units, and then God's ideal vision is for those families which to then comprise nations to then ultimately become one big family of God that spans nations, ethnicities, generations, time and space for the benefit of all. 00:11:23.840 --> 00:11:29.679 We are called to be unalone as part of God's local family, right here, Awakening Church. 00:11:29.759 --> 00:11:34.399 It's a local family to be part then of God's global, eternal family. 00:11:35.279 --> 00:11:39.679 And so when we look at our key verse, we look at how do we do that? 00:11:39.919 --> 00:11:42.240 How do we create that sort of family? 00:11:42.559 --> 00:11:47.600 Well, when the Lord said it's not good for man to be alone, he said, I'll make a helper just right for him. 00:11:47.759 --> 00:11:55.039 So this Hebrew word for helper is Ezer, and it's commonly translated in English as helpmeet or helper. 00:11:55.200 --> 00:12:05.440 So let's be really clear that Ezer does not mean junior, doesn't mean little helper, assistant, or any implication that the woman is in fear of subservient to man. 00:12:05.679 --> 00:12:18.559 In fact, Ezer is most often used to describe God, as a title for God, in battle context, as the one who fights for us, the one who renders aid, the deliverer, the rescuer, the resource provider, and the encourager. 00:12:18.799 --> 00:12:23.840 Ezra is used 21 times in the Bible, and here are just a few examples of how it shows up. 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:32.320 In Deuteronomy 3, Ezra is used three times in that chapter in reference to God giving Israel strength and protection and victory over the enemy. 00:12:32.480 --> 00:12:35.440 And then Psalm 33, 20 says, We put our hope in the Lord. 00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:37.360 He is our helper and our shield. 00:12:37.519 --> 00:12:42.399 And Psalm 124.8 says, Our help is from the Lord who made the heaven and earth. 00:12:42.559 --> 00:12:49.600 And then in Hebrews, jump over to New Testament 13, says, For God said, I will never fail you, I will never abandon you. 00:12:49.759 --> 00:12:55.840 So we can say with confidence, the Lord is my helper, so that I will have no fear. 00:12:56.000 --> 00:12:58.080 What can mere people do to me? 00:12:58.320 --> 00:13:01.039 And in that passage is quoting Psalm 118. 00:13:01.279 --> 00:13:04.080 So God is our primary Ezer, our helper. 00:13:04.240 --> 00:13:11.440 And we made in his image are called to be Ezers to one another, to help for one another and for this world. 00:13:11.679 --> 00:13:16.639 Not just because other people need us, but because we also need other people. 00:13:16.960 --> 00:13:23.759 We get to partner with God's work in people's lives and in our own life and in this world that He's given us. 00:13:23.919 --> 00:13:34.159 So just as God comforts and helps and wins battles and provides for us, we get to experience that help not just for ourselves, but then we get to bring it to others. 00:13:34.480 --> 00:13:36.879 But we can't help people from a distance. 00:13:37.200 --> 00:13:40.639 We need to get really close and personal and face to face. 00:13:40.799 --> 00:13:43.600 You can't have intimacy without proximity. 00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:46.480 But then why is it so hard for us to connect? 00:13:46.639 --> 00:13:50.720 Why is it so hard to build relationships beyond the superficial level? 00:13:51.120 --> 00:13:57.919 Well, our individualistic culture, our media algorithms, they push us overwhelmingly towards isolation. 00:13:58.159 --> 00:14:05.200 And we need to then be intentional and vigilant and pushing back to overcome these obstacles to building relationships. 00:14:05.519 --> 00:14:10.000 And we know as Christ followers how to fight the world's influence on us. 00:14:10.240 --> 00:14:13.679 That is what we do every day as we battle sin and temptation. 00:14:13.840 --> 00:14:17.600 So we know that we need to push against what the culture wants us to do. 00:14:17.840 --> 00:14:19.440 And there's so many obstacles, right? 00:14:19.519 --> 00:14:27.440 But some of these obstacles may be true for you, and maybe in your stage of life, there's other ones that pop up, but these are some of the really common ones. 00:14:27.600 --> 00:14:28.960 Busy overpacked schedules. 00:14:29.200 --> 00:14:29.600 Anyone? 00:14:29.759 --> 00:14:30.159 Everyone? 00:14:30.320 --> 00:14:31.440 Probably, yes? 00:14:31.600 --> 00:14:32.960 Um, job transitions. 00:14:33.200 --> 00:14:37.360 If you move around every few years, I think in the Bay, it's like every three years people move. 00:14:37.519 --> 00:14:44.320 So then it's hard to build roots in those relationships, and then it's also hard to bother getting to know people because you know you're gonna be going. 00:14:44.480 --> 00:14:50.480 Um, there's the hustle culture that's focused on achievement and making our work identity our highest priority. 00:14:50.799 --> 00:14:53.759 The time, the energy for raising kids, that's real. 00:14:53.919 --> 00:14:57.440 The youth sports, all of their activities, that takes a lot of time and energy. 00:14:57.600 --> 00:15:03.919 Then, of course, our phone use, hours and hours of media consumption that we do every day. 00:15:04.080 --> 00:15:06.159 And then there's the emotional pain. 00:15:06.399 --> 00:15:20.000 The pain from past relational hurts that you haven't fully healed from, the fear of that happening again, and especially if you've been hurt inside of a church context, I think that makes it a little harder than to risk connecting again. 00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:29.039 So it's easier, and the world wants us to choose comfort and predictability over risk and discomfort, but that comes with growth. 00:15:29.279 --> 00:15:32.159 So, on there's so many things you could probably add to the list. 00:15:32.320 --> 00:15:37.759 So the world gives us these excuses, but we don't want to settle for a life that is not really life. 00:15:37.919 --> 00:15:40.879 We want to thrive and flourish in a life that Christ asked for us. 00:15:41.120 --> 00:15:48.000 So, yes, you may have a demanding schedule that makes it hard to find time, and I totally get that, but I also want to challenge you. 00:15:48.159 --> 00:15:59.120 If you have two hours to scroll on your phone or to watch, consume, doing something fairly meaningless, then you have time to meet a friend for coffee or for boba since we're here. 00:15:59.200 --> 00:16:02.799 And I had boba, by the way, I had boba yesterday with my daughters, and it was fabulous. 00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:05.840 I don't have good boba where I live, so side note. 00:16:06.240 --> 00:16:10.320 But you have that time to meet a friend for coffee, for whatever, a meal. 00:16:10.480 --> 00:16:12.399 Or um you can do what I just started to do. 00:16:12.480 --> 00:16:15.600 I don't really like to exercise, so I have to trick myself into it. 00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:18.320 And so I have a friend that loves to exercise. 00:16:18.399 --> 00:16:19.679 I don't know what's wrong with her. 00:16:19.919 --> 00:16:24.480 So she we have um ourselves on our headphones and we'll walk now. 00:16:24.559 --> 00:16:28.480 Uh, once a week, we'll walk together, and I don't even know that I'm getting my stuff soon. 00:16:28.559 --> 00:16:30.720 It's so great because it's so fun to connect. 00:16:30.799 --> 00:16:33.519 And she's someone who lives further away, we don't get to see each other. 00:16:33.679 --> 00:16:35.120 So just even something like that. 00:16:35.200 --> 00:16:36.639 If you're doing something, do it together. 00:16:36.799 --> 00:16:40.000 If you're gonna go to Target to pick up something, go with someone. 00:16:40.240 --> 00:16:45.039 Find opportunities to put people in connection into your life. 00:16:45.679 --> 00:16:50.159 Then I wonder, aside from the schedules, if perhaps the biggest challenge is fear. 00:16:50.399 --> 00:16:57.440 Um, pastor and writer John Orperg said, you can only love and be loved to the extent that you know and are known. 00:16:57.679 --> 00:17:04.400 We all understand that there's a huge difference between knowing about someone and knowing someone, right? 00:17:04.720 --> 00:17:11.519 You to know about someone, you just need to go on their LinkedIn, their Instagram, um, you can Google them. 00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:14.960 But to actually know them, you need to actually meet them. 00:17:15.119 --> 00:17:16.319 Think about the dating app. 00:17:16.400 --> 00:17:21.200 You can know lots about people from the dating app, but until you have that first date, you don't really know who they are. 00:17:21.359 --> 00:17:26.160 Um, and you need to keep having that relationship to get to see who they really are. 00:17:26.880 --> 00:17:34.319 We all crave to be known, and it can feel risky to open ourselves up because we're afraid of being judged or being rejected. 00:17:34.480 --> 00:17:41.759 But to connect in real friendship, we gotta take off that mask of self-sufficiency, of independence, and of pride. 00:17:42.079 --> 00:17:51.359 We have to let go of wanting people to see our best curated self from wanting to be admired to wanting instead to be known. 00:17:51.599 --> 00:17:59.599 If you choose to be admired, you will stay trapped in loneliness because you will only be showing them this idealized self. 00:17:59.839 --> 00:18:03.039 We need to show people our messy, insecure, our imperfect self. 00:18:03.119 --> 00:18:08.400 And that's how we let people into our real world, and that's how we enter into the honor of being in their world. 00:18:08.799 --> 00:18:16.160 But here's the amazing truth: Jesus knows absolutely everything about you, past, present, future, and he loves you unconditionally. 00:18:16.319 --> 00:18:19.759 You have nothing to prove, you have no image to project. 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:24.799 His grace is more than sufficient for your weaknesses and any fears you might have. 00:18:24.960 --> 00:18:31.440 When we rest in that firm foundation of God's love for us, we can take that risk of connecting with others. 00:18:31.599 --> 00:18:33.440 What can the immortals do to me? 00:18:33.599 --> 00:18:34.720 I know I am loved. 00:18:34.880 --> 00:18:39.680 So if someone is like kind of eh, you know, I don't really want to hang out, it's okay. 00:18:39.839 --> 00:18:40.640 God still loves you. 00:18:40.799 --> 00:18:42.400 Move on to the next person. 00:18:42.559 --> 00:18:52.720 Um, the church, more than any other place, we need to be a space of safety and security where we can hold this non-judgmental space and be real and honest and vulnerable. 00:18:52.799 --> 00:18:54.880 If you don't do it here, where could you do it? 00:18:55.119 --> 00:19:00.880 Romans 12, 5 reminds us that we are all part of Christ's body and that we belong to each other. 00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:07.359 Um we have the potential for this more meaningful, more in-depth relationship because we share this faith in Christ. 00:19:07.519 --> 00:19:12.319 And the Holy Spirit is working between us, in us, a mediating all around us. 00:19:12.480 --> 00:19:16.799 And so the possibility of having those kinds of deeper connection is right here. 00:19:17.119 --> 00:19:20.000 So then, how do we move from isolation to connection? 00:19:20.240 --> 00:19:27.440 We start by trusting God and trusting his promises and living out verses like Hebrews 10, 23 and 25 together. 00:19:27.680 --> 00:19:33.279 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. 00:19:33.440 --> 00:19:38.079 That's the foundation for any risks we take in life, including the risk of friendship. 00:19:38.319 --> 00:19:42.079 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:47.119 And let us not neglect meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another. 00:19:47.359 --> 00:19:50.960 When we gather together like this on Sundays, we are encouraged. 00:19:51.119 --> 00:19:58.079 We worship God, give him glory, but we are also enriched and enlivened again, refreshed and renewed. 00:19:58.240 --> 00:20:04.160 And whenever you guys gather together in youth group, in small groups, in serving together, that is what happens. 00:20:04.319 --> 00:20:05.920 God works in us and through us. 00:20:06.079 --> 00:20:13.200 And the New Testament letters written to the early churches are full of these types of instructions on how we ought to live with one another. 00:20:13.279 --> 00:20:27.839 And the phrase one another as a former small groups pastor, there are like 50 plus by some count of those one another passages that we cannot do and obey without being together as sisters and brothers in the Christ. 00:20:28.079 --> 00:20:32.559 So we can't do this without God, and we can't do this without each other. 00:20:32.720 --> 00:20:38.079 So first we receive help from God, our Ezra, and then we seek to do for others what God has done for us. 00:20:38.240 --> 00:20:41.759 So there's many ways to be part of the solution of the not good human condition. 00:20:41.920 --> 00:20:44.319 Um this morning I'm gonna focus on three ways. 00:20:44.480 --> 00:20:48.079 And these ways come exactly from where how God helps us. 00:20:48.319 --> 00:20:50.240 He is with us and he is for us. 00:20:50.400 --> 00:20:52.400 And this is the example we want to follow. 00:20:52.559 --> 00:20:55.039 We want to be with and for people. 00:20:55.359 --> 00:21:02.400 So, first, just as God is always with us, we help by being fully present to one another and showing up with our whole selves. 00:21:02.880 --> 00:21:09.279 So when my daughter, uh younger daughter Sarah, was about three, um, we were hanging out in the kitchen by the kitchen island. 00:21:09.359 --> 00:21:10.720 She was on one side, I was on the other. 00:21:10.799 --> 00:21:15.920 I was, and she was telling about her day in preschool, all the stuff that happened, who she played with, all the things. 00:21:16.160 --> 00:21:22.559 And I was cutting up fruit for the snack, I was doing dishes, I was cleaning up, I'm sure I was thinking about the next thing I had to do. 00:21:22.799 --> 00:21:35.279 All of a sudden, Sarah lunges across the island, she grabs my face, I'm sorry, with her little hands, she pulls it right next to her face, and she says, Mommy, I'm here. 00:21:36.400 --> 00:21:37.599 Look at me. 00:21:38.799 --> 00:21:44.240 And I just wonder how many people in our lives are silently pleading with us. 00:21:44.400 --> 00:21:46.160 And they're saying, I'm here. 00:21:46.480 --> 00:21:49.200 Look at me, listen to me. 00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:51.759 Show me that I matter. 00:21:53.759 --> 00:21:59.839 God convicted me that day and many, many times since, about how often I fail to be fully present. 00:22:00.720 --> 00:22:04.480 Because I'm distracted, I'm multitasking, which by the way, that is not a thing. 00:22:04.640 --> 00:22:06.400 They figured it out neurologically. 00:22:06.480 --> 00:22:08.000 We nobody multitasks. 00:22:08.160 --> 00:22:09.839 So we can only really do one thing. 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:16.960 And we tend to be in our head about what we want to say next, what we want to do next, and we don't give people the gift of presence together. 00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:19.759 And that was before even phones existed. 00:22:19.839 --> 00:22:23.759 And now, with our phones, it is our biggest source of distraction by far. 00:22:23.920 --> 00:22:36.319 And studies show that even if you take your phone, you're meeting with someone, and you put it face down between you or on the side, just the fact that it exists within your eyes where you can see it, that that is a source of distraction. 00:22:36.480 --> 00:22:39.599 There's a part of your brain that kind of gets parked wherever our phone is. 00:22:39.759 --> 00:22:41.519 So I encourage you just to put it away. 00:22:41.680 --> 00:22:43.039 Apparently, it still impacts us. 00:22:43.119 --> 00:22:45.359 It's just to say, hey, I'm gonna spend this time with you. 00:22:45.519 --> 00:22:47.119 I'm gonna be uninterrupted. 00:22:47.279 --> 00:22:54.720 And by the way, if you find yourself thinking like distracted by work or something else going on, then just say that to the person you're with. 00:22:54.799 --> 00:22:55.920 And just say, hey, you know what? 00:22:56.000 --> 00:22:57.680 I'm a little, I may be a little distracted today. 00:22:57.759 --> 00:22:58.559 I'm so sorry. 00:22:58.640 --> 00:23:02.880 Um I'm worried about XYZ, whatever the thing is, but I want to really be here with you. 00:23:02.960 --> 00:23:04.240 I'm so glad we're together. 00:23:04.480 --> 00:23:05.680 You just own up to it. 00:23:05.759 --> 00:23:06.960 Don't try to fake it. 00:23:07.039 --> 00:23:10.400 Um, fake listening is doesn't serve really anyone well. 00:23:10.799 --> 00:23:17.839 As a Christian, um Quaker, Quaker is a sect of Christianity, and they really focus on community. 00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:26.480 So Parker Palmer is an educator, but he's also a Quaker, and he said the human soul doesn't want to be advised, fixed, or saved. 00:23:26.640 --> 00:23:31.599 It simply wants to be witnessed, to be seen, heard, and companioned exactly as it is. 00:23:31.839 --> 00:23:42.559 So the idea here is that, you know, how many of you had friends or parents or uh spouses wanting to fix you, to save you from your problems, to give you advice. 00:23:42.640 --> 00:23:47.359 Um, and the world wants to tell you what to do, how to do it, and what to have and all that. 00:23:47.519 --> 00:23:48.799 And it's just a lot. 00:23:49.039 --> 00:23:57.359 We long for that gentle companionship where we can just let down our guard, we can be seen, we can breathe, we can exhale, and just be. 00:23:58.079 --> 00:24:03.920 And the book of Job gives us a beautiful picture of what this type of companionship and presence looks like. 00:24:04.079 --> 00:24:16.960 Um, and if you know the story of Job, he had it incredibly hard, um, and he had terrible losses and going through horrible tragedies, death and life after another, like one after another, huge, huge losses. 00:24:17.119 --> 00:24:21.839 If you think your life is really hard, if you want a downward comparison, Job would be your book. 00:24:22.079 --> 00:24:23.599 He suffered a lot. 00:24:23.759 --> 00:24:30.240 Okay, but he had these three friends, and these three friends were amazing in the first chapter, first couple chapters. 00:24:30.400 --> 00:24:34.400 They hear the news of what's happening to Job, that he's having all these horrible tragedies. 00:24:34.559 --> 00:24:42.079 They rush to his side together, they meet him on the road, they can hardly recognize him because he's just so distraught. 00:24:42.240 --> 00:24:51.039 Then they weep with him, grieve with him, they tore their ropes, they sit in silence for seven days and seven nights before they open their mouth. 00:24:51.119 --> 00:24:54.960 And in that silence, they are eloquent in supporting Job. 00:24:55.200 --> 00:25:06.160 It's only after they open their mouth and the rest of Job, where they tell them all the things, that it goes not great because they can't help it and they kind of have all kinds of issues that they get wrong. 00:25:06.319 --> 00:25:11.519 But in the beginning, to be present with people is to just be with them. 00:25:12.160 --> 00:25:17.200 Give up the temptation to fix them or give them their advice or their problems. 00:25:17.279 --> 00:25:21.039 We just need to accept people for who they are, not who we want them to be. 00:25:21.200 --> 00:25:33.519 And try not to center ourselves or push our agenda in those conversations or to give advice or to say, hey, I know something, you have this issue, well, I have this issue, and then just kind of, you know, move that conversation off of them. 00:25:33.680 --> 00:25:34.400 No, focus. 00:25:34.559 --> 00:25:35.119 Focus on them. 00:25:35.279 --> 00:25:36.480 Ask good questions. 00:25:36.640 --> 00:25:38.720 Don't just settle for, how are you? 00:25:38.880 --> 00:25:40.559 Fine, which is, you know, okay. 00:25:40.799 --> 00:25:42.400 But instead ask good questions. 00:25:42.559 --> 00:25:45.680 Ask each other, hey, what are you excited about right now? 00:25:45.839 --> 00:25:50.240 What's been going on in your life that has really been really good or really hard? 00:25:50.400 --> 00:25:53.279 Um, ask each other, you know, what has God been doing in your life? 00:25:53.359 --> 00:25:54.640 How are you hearing him lately? 00:25:54.799 --> 00:26:00.559 I mean, meaningful questions will help you not only lift them up, but it'll lift you up. 00:26:00.960 --> 00:26:07.519 Second, just as God fights for us, we help by fighting side by side and holding each other accountable. 00:26:07.759 --> 00:26:14.960 So Ecclesiastes 4, this famous verse that two people are better off than one before they can help each other succeed. 00:26:15.119 --> 00:26:17.759 If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. 00:26:17.839 --> 00:26:21.039 But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. 00:26:21.440 --> 00:26:29.519 We know that we are more likely to be tempted to be give in to Satan's lies and attacks when we are isolated and we are alone. 00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:34.640 Um we know that there's a reason why we have our most anxious thoughts when we are alone. 00:26:34.880 --> 00:26:37.359 Typically late at night, early in the morning. 00:26:37.440 --> 00:26:40.079 Um the enemy just messes with our heads and we are alone. 00:26:40.160 --> 00:26:43.519 We're far more susceptible to listening to all of those things. 00:26:43.680 --> 00:26:45.839 Um and those things aren't always true. 00:26:46.079 --> 00:26:48.000 Writer Anne Lamont puts it this way. 00:26:48.240 --> 00:26:52.720 She says, My thoughts are a bad neighborhood, so I shouldn't be walking them alone. 00:26:52.880 --> 00:26:54.720 I need you to walk me through it. 00:26:54.880 --> 00:26:58.640 We need each other as protection so we speak truth to one another. 00:26:58.880 --> 00:27:02.160 A great example of this principle is an Alcoholics Anonymous. 00:27:02.240 --> 00:27:10.400 So AA began in 1935 when one of the founders, Bill W realized that he was an alcoholic who needed another alcoholic to help him stay sober. 00:27:10.559 --> 00:27:15.920 So he they started this 12-step program, which has its foundation in Christian faith and principles. 00:27:16.079 --> 00:27:22.079 And it helps has helped so far over two million people in 180 countries quit drinking. 00:27:22.319 --> 00:27:36.240 And in 2022, a Stanford meta research group did a study on all of the AA studies that so far, and they concluded that fellowship in AA is more effective in people achieving sobriety than individual psychotherapy for years. 00:27:36.559 --> 00:27:42.960 Because it's based on social interaction, because they give each other moral emotional support as well as practical tips. 00:27:43.039 --> 00:27:51.440 And the researchers concluded this: if you want to make a change, if you want to change your behavior, find some other people who are trying to make the same change. 00:27:51.599 --> 00:27:56.480 And that's why AA requires a sponsor, everyone has to have one, and then you have to become one. 00:27:56.960 --> 00:28:00.400 Doesn't that sound like what we do here at church? 00:28:00.640 --> 00:28:03.119 We are all people wanting to make the same change. 00:28:03.279 --> 00:28:04.799 We want to be like Jesus. 00:28:05.039 --> 00:28:09.839 And we need each other who also wants to make that same change to come alongside us. 00:28:10.079 --> 00:28:14.480 So you may not struggle with addictions, but we all struggle with sin. 00:28:14.640 --> 00:28:16.000 That is part of the human condition. 00:28:16.160 --> 00:28:21.440 We struggle with battles, lies from the enemy, we struggle with insecurity and discouragement, depression. 00:28:21.599 --> 00:28:23.119 We struggle with so many things. 00:28:23.279 --> 00:28:28.160 And we know that we don't grow and we need each other to help us. 00:28:28.240 --> 00:28:34.720 Because in isolation, we tend towards loneliness, self-centeredness, pride, self-justification, defensiveness. 00:28:34.799 --> 00:28:35.839 I mean, we can go on and on. 00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:38.000 We don't go good places when we are alone. 00:28:38.160 --> 00:28:44.960 But when we're together, we can move towards hope and light and life because we can speak God's truth over one another. 00:28:45.200 --> 00:28:50.960 Proverbs 27, 17 says, and as iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend. 00:28:51.200 --> 00:28:54.319 There is this beautiful reciprocity and mutuality here. 00:28:54.480 --> 00:28:59.680 Sometimes we're the one doing the sharpening, and sometimes we're the ones being sharpened. 00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:02.960 The power is in this mutual giving and receiving. 00:29:03.119 --> 00:29:15.680 So if you're the one always doing the sharpening and always the one doing the giving, then you have to consider if you've been humble enough or vulnerable enough to allow other people to support you. 00:29:15.920 --> 00:29:28.079 If you're the one always receiving and always being sharpened, you may be struggling with a little bit of self-focus, and you may need to attend and look out and see who else can need that support from you. 00:29:28.480 --> 00:29:32.000 Which then leads us to the third way that we are Ezer to each other. 00:29:32.240 --> 00:29:37.359 That just as God provides for us, we help by providing for others. 00:29:37.680 --> 00:29:45.200 I grew up, as you know, from a Korean immigrant family, and we highly valued helping people, but not necessarily being helped by them. 00:29:45.359 --> 00:29:48.160 My parents were great at helping people all the time. 00:29:48.319 --> 00:29:52.160 So we were supposed to be helpers, but we were never supposed to ask for help. 00:29:52.559 --> 00:29:57.680 Just like never having to, you know, admit that we needed things from other people. 00:29:57.920 --> 00:30:05.680 I think it was more about pride and a lack of vulnerability and not wanting to look like we have it together, and then it was also about not wanting to burden people. 00:30:05.759 --> 00:30:07.599 We just didn't want to be a bother. 00:30:07.839 --> 00:30:15.759 And the reality is, though, that God often meets our needs through other people and he uses us to meet their needs. 00:30:16.000 --> 00:30:20.559 Galatians 6 says to share one another's burden's burdens. 00:30:20.799 --> 00:30:25.599 And I think the NIV says to carry one another's burdens, which is just a beautiful imagery. 00:30:25.759 --> 00:30:28.079 And in this way, obey the law of Christ. 00:30:28.240 --> 00:30:35.200 Therefore, whenever you have opportunity, we should do good to everyone, especially those in the family of faith. 00:30:35.839 --> 00:30:43.920 So here are a few examples of the kinds of things that the small groups in my former church did for each other, and we really emphasize that serving one another peace. 00:30:44.079 --> 00:30:45.200 So here's some examples. 00:30:45.359 --> 00:30:50.960 So one group had a member that was going to be in surgery for several days hospitalized. 00:30:51.039 --> 00:30:57.839 So they secretly got the keys, cleaned the house, stocked the fridge, did all the things, and she came home to this incredible surprise. 00:30:58.000 --> 00:31:05.680 Um give money to help pay rent or utilities or something for someone who'd been laid off or needed some um help. 00:31:05.920 --> 00:31:16.000 People would provide babysitting for exhausted new parents or provide legal, financial, or plumbing or contractor work, whatever was needed that they could offer, they offered it as a resource. 00:31:16.240 --> 00:31:22.640 Um one group, this is one of my favorites, one group really wanted to help people that came to our auditorium. 00:31:22.720 --> 00:31:24.799 So our worship center had about 2,000 seats. 00:31:24.960 --> 00:31:26.960 So a lot of people that were sitting alone. 00:31:27.119 --> 00:31:39.680 And so they would come early, they would find someone to sit alone that was sitting alone, sit with them, and then after service, they would meet over by the coffee and donuts together, introduce their new friend to each other and invite them into their group and their community. 00:31:39.920 --> 00:31:49.920 Um, others would give elderly people rides or just sit and listen to them that were lonely or take them to church, or some would mentor a young adult or a student. 00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:55.359 And of course, above all, they would pray for and pray with one another. 00:31:55.759 --> 00:32:10.720 So many years ago, when I was just starting out in small groups ministry, this is probably about 20 years ago, um, there was a middle-aged woman who approached me in the lobby, and she had told me she was recently divorced, and she asked me to find a group for her of women who were divorced. 00:32:10.880 --> 00:32:15.759 And we were newer in our small groups ministry, and we didn't have specialty groups like that yet. 00:32:15.920 --> 00:32:21.119 And so I said, I'm so sorry, we just have groups that meet in cities and they're married, divorced, single, whatever. 00:32:21.279 --> 00:32:23.839 It's just whoever lives in that neighborhood gets together. 00:32:24.000 --> 00:32:37.759 Um, and she was really hesitant and she was apprehensive, and she told me she had been deeply hurt by her ex-husband and by other men in her life, and she really didn't want to be in a group with men, but okay, fine, if this is all we had, she was going to do it. 00:32:37.920 --> 00:32:39.200 And that was kind of about her attitude. 00:32:39.279 --> 00:32:40.720 And I was like, okay, thank you. 00:32:40.880 --> 00:32:46.880 Um and then she went to the group, and I knew the leaders were pretty solid, um, but it was rough. 00:32:47.039 --> 00:32:56.880 The first month or two was rough, and so she was struggling with kind of feeling um seen or accepted, whatever, her issues, they were kind of trying to work it out. 00:32:57.119 --> 00:33:09.039 But then, fast forward like six or seven months later, she approached me with just joy, just radiating from her face, and she was sharing how the men in this group had been so kind, so supportive. 00:33:09.200 --> 00:33:13.200 They helped her with house repairs, and they um kind of befriended her son. 00:33:13.440 --> 00:33:22.000 She had an adolescent son, and um the dad was absent, and so these fathers would just bring them along whenever they did stuff with their sons. 00:33:22.079 --> 00:33:33.839 So they took him to games, they played catch with them, they just invited him along, and they became like honorary uncles to them, a spiritual mentor to him, and they just became part of his life, and she was so, so grateful. 00:33:33.920 --> 00:33:42.240 And then with tears, she said, Um, if I had gotten the group that I wanted, I would never would have experienced this healing and this transformation. 00:33:42.400 --> 00:33:48.480 But because this is the group that God had for me, that I got to experience um something so much better. 00:33:48.720 --> 00:33:51.599 And it and this is really what God does. 00:33:51.920 --> 00:34:00.480 When we provide for each other's physical, emotional, or spiritual needs, we get to partner with what God's doing in people's lives, his Ezra work. 00:34:00.559 --> 00:34:04.960 And that not only grows their faith, it also grows ours. 00:34:05.759 --> 00:34:14.239 I am sure that that group grew as a result of ministering to this woman in similar ways that she grew because she was the one being ministered to. 00:34:16.000 --> 00:34:22.480 So, in conclusion, though, I just wanted to remind you again that we are not designed to do life alone. 00:34:22.719 --> 00:34:29.679 In John 14, 16 to 17, Jesus tells the disciples that the Holy Spirit is coming and that we'll never leave them. 00:34:29.760 --> 00:34:35.440 And the Holy Spirit, the one who dwells in us, is described in scripture as an advocate, a defender. 00:34:35.519 --> 00:34:39.760 And some translations use words like comforter, encourager, or counselor. 00:34:40.239 --> 00:34:45.840 He is the one who comes alongside us as a constant presence and a source of help. 00:34:46.079 --> 00:34:59.440 So if you are here today and you're struggling with loneliness and you feel so isolated, ask the Spirit to help you invest in a relationship, to bring someone to mind, just one person for now here in this body of Christ. 00:34:59.599 --> 00:35:06.880 And if you are someone who notices somebody struggling or sitting alone next time, reach out and invite them into your circle. 00:35:07.119 --> 00:35:10.639 Invite them to coffee or lunch or just hang out for a little bit. 00:35:10.719 --> 00:35:16.800 It doesn't take much for people to feel like they matter and they need that face-to-face contact. 00:35:16.960 --> 00:35:18.000 So start small. 00:35:18.079 --> 00:35:24.000 Don't try to go make 10 friends, just one, just stick with one, and ask God to help you connect. 00:35:24.960 --> 00:35:33.440 As part of Jesus' final instructions to his disciples, he said that my command is this: love each other as I have loved you. 00:35:33.760 --> 00:35:38.079 Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. 00:35:38.320 --> 00:35:40.719 And that is exactly what Jesus did. 00:35:40.960 --> 00:35:47.920 He demonstrated his great love for us by laying down his life and to save us for eternity and connect us to God. 00:35:48.159 --> 00:35:54.639 And so this is the way of love and the call of Jesus on our lives and the cure for the not good in the garden. 00:35:54.880 --> 00:36:05.039 Just as Jesus is always with us and for us, we want to follow his lead to help others know and be known, to serve and be served, and to love and to be loved. 00:36:05.440 --> 00:36:10.000 I'm gonna invite Robbie back up for um to continue our time of worship. 00:36:10.079 --> 00:36:12.800 And in a few moments, we're gonna be taking communion together. 00:36:12.960 --> 00:36:21.440 And communion is the way we reflect and remember Jesus' sacrifice, his death, his burial, and resurrection to give us eternal life. 00:36:21.599 --> 00:36:25.199 And so we take these elements together, not alone, but as a community. 00:36:25.360 --> 00:36:30.000 And so today we're gonna do this communion a little differently, apparently never being done before at Awakening Church. 00:36:30.079 --> 00:36:38.800 So you're in the inaugural way we did communion today, which is such a beautiful, tangible expression of that we are together, we come to the table together. 00:36:38.960 --> 00:36:41.840 And so we're gonna serve each other communion. 00:36:42.079 --> 00:36:47.119 And me just saying that, if that made you a little nervous, we have instructions so we can do this together. 00:36:47.280 --> 00:36:52.079 Um, so we're going to you're going to line up in a few moments in two lines. 00:36:52.159 --> 00:37:06.480 There's gonna be two sets of um the bread and the juice, and so you line up in the section closest to you, and you're gonna receive from the person in front of you who's going to say to you, Um, this is the body of Christ broken for you. 00:37:06.559 --> 00:37:18.239 And you're gonna receive it and take it, and then you're gonna turn and offer the plate to the basket or the cup to the person behind you, and you're going to say, This is the blood of Christ poured out for you. 00:37:18.480 --> 00:37:21.119 Okay, so we're gonna practice together, okay? 00:37:21.280 --> 00:37:22.960 So let's say this together. 00:37:23.280 --> 00:37:29.360 The body of Christ broken for you, the blood of Christ poured out for you. 00:37:29.519 --> 00:37:35.440 Um, and for bonus points, if you want to say, you know, do this in remembrance of him, go for it. 00:37:35.679 --> 00:37:51.440 Um, okay, so I know this, I just love that this idea that the team came up with because it reminds us that we are here not as isolated individual people, but we are here as the body of Christ together and we belong to one another. 00:37:51.599 --> 00:37:56.559 And if you need encouragement or prayer support in the back corner, there's a prayer section. 00:37:56.719 --> 00:37:59.840 So the volunteers I would love to pray with you. 00:38:00.320 --> 00:38:12.239 So I don't know where you're at today, where you're at with Jesus, where you're at in your loneliness, or what fires or storms are in your life, but God, our Ezra helper, knows it all. 00:38:12.559 --> 00:38:14.559 And he is with you through it all. 00:38:14.800 --> 00:38:22.000 And so, child of God, you are not alone, you are seen, you are known, you are forgiven, and you are loved beyond measure. 00:38:22.239 --> 00:38:23.440 Let's pray. 00:38:25.119 --> 00:38:34.320 Oh, God, thank you for being our helper, our Ezra, for not leaving us alone, but giving us your constant presence and giving us the gift of one another. 00:38:34.639 --> 00:38:38.079 God, I pray you would help us be bold and brave this week. 00:38:38.320 --> 00:38:44.880 And as we sense you, you stirring our hearts to connect, God, may we take those steps to connect with each other. 00:38:45.119 --> 00:38:47.599 And may we find places of belonging. 00:38:47.760 --> 00:38:59.840 May this church be a space and a place where people can lay down their burdens, can remove the mask, and just be known and loved for who they are and follow Jesus, follow you together. 00:39:00.079 --> 00:39:01.360 And that is our desire. 00:39:01.440 --> 00:39:15.840 And God, I pray you would use us and use one another to stir that up in us, God, so that we can bring the good news of your hope and your love and your forgiveness and grace to others around us, and we can receive that good news from each other, God. 00:39:15.920 --> 00:39:17.119 So help us, Lord. 00:39:17.360 --> 00:39:20.960 We need you, we love you, and we want to be more like you. 00:39:21.119 --> 00:39:22.400 In Christ's name we pray. 00:39:22.639 --> 00:39:23.280 Amen. 00:39:24.400 --> 00:39:26.639 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:39:26.880 --> 00:39:31.199 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:39:31.440 --> 00:39:33.519 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:39:33.679 --> 00:39:39.599 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.com slash card.